Boat loading device



July 26, 1938.- A; D. SINDEN BOAT LOADING DEVICE :Filed July 15, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 A. D. SINDEN BOAT LOADING DEVICE July 26, 1938.

Filed July l5, 1937 4 Sheets- Sheet 2 l r 5 1/ d0 3% w PQ, 72

July 26, 1938. A. D. SINDEN 2,125,088

BOAT LOADING DEVICE Filed July 15, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet s y 193s. A. D. SINDEN 2,125,088

BOAT LOADING DEVICE Filed July 15. 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 1 ?%il I I "HI, 5 Y 56 l 6 I 1 I 50 ZZ7/(/@7 @7/J 6] t .JQMP/Qd 5mm 62 65 75 79 72 j r Mm 73 65 Wad Patented July 26, 1938 BOAT LOADING DEVICE Alfred D. Sinden,

' Stephens-Adamson Mfg.

Illinois Aurora,

111., assignor to 00., a corporation of Application July 15, 1937, Serial No. 153,795

6 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for loading ships and has for its principal object to facilitate placing loose bulk material throughout the hold so as to trim the ship. Generally speaking, this is accomplished by providing a raising and lowering boom with a conveyor delivering to a chute hung from the outer end of the boom and transmitting the material from the conveyor to a lateral throwing device carried by the lower end of the chute and capable of being turned about to direct the material into various parts of the hold from a position within a hatch, and the controls are located above deck where the operator can see how the ship is riding and stow the material accordingly.

, A practical embodiment of the invention especially suited-for loading soda ash is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a diagram of a ship adjacent to a loading pier equipped with the apparatus. The upper dotted line position indicates how the boom and chute can be raised to clear all the superstructure of the ship when it is to be moved. From this position it can be lowered through the solid line position, in which the chute and throwing device are within the hatch of the ship;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section through the inner or pivoted end of the boom and adjacent parts on the pier;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the. outer or free end of the boom and the upper portion of the chute;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the chute with the lower end broken away;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the lower end of the chute and the throwing device;

Fig. 6 is a transverse section on the line 66 of Fig. 4

Fig. 7 is a vertical section on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is an elevation of the lower end of the chute and the throwing device looking from the right in Fig. 5;

Fig. 9 is a vertical section on the line 99 of Fig. 8, and

Fig. 10 is a transverse section on the line IU In of Fig. 9.

is indicated at l2.

Adjacent to the conveyor is a boom l3 pivoted at its lower or inner end upon a shaft M suitably supported on the pier. The boom is raised and lowered by hoisting gear i5 associated with a mast I6 and operated by driving mechanism l1, including a motor i8. A chute i9 is hung from the outer or free end of the boom l3 and carries at its lower end a thrower 2 3.

In Fig. 2, Sheet 2, it will be seen that the tail end of the conveyor l2 delivers to a chute 2! generally rectangular in cross section and having a curved neck 22 at the bottom which is fitted into a housing 23 on the boom l3 and delivers to the head end of a conveyor 24, running over a head pulley Z5 and a tail pulley 26, Fig. 3, the upper run being supported by rollers 21 and the lower run by rollers 28.

In Fig. 3 it will be seen that the tail end of the conveyor 24 delivers to a funnel 29 forming the upper or first part of the chute IS. The funnel is generally rectangular in cross section and terminates in a curved neck 36, adjacent to the left side of which is a pivot pin 3! on which the chute proper I9 is hinged or hung, to swing as indicated in the diagram shown in Fig. 1.

Gaskets 32 and 33 make this joint and the joint at the inner end of the boom substantially dust tight.

Just below the pin 3! the chute is rectangular in cross section, but gradually changes, as indicated at 34, to a circular section where, in this embodiment, it has been found expedient to insert a swivel joint, shown best in Figs. 3, l, 6 and 7, Sheet 3. As there illustrated, the wall of the chute is equipped with four brackets 35 i from which depend hangers 36 bearing shafts 31, on which flanged rollers 38 are journaled on ball or roller bearings.

The flanged rollers 38 support a swivel ring 39 secured to the lower section 40 of the chute, which telescopes over the upper section, as indicated in Fig. 7, and the joint is made dust tight by a metal band li bearing against a gasket 42, carried by a ring 43, fastened to the brackets 35.

The swivel ring 39 has gear teeth 92 meshing with a pinion 93 driven through enclosed worm gearing 94, by an enclosed gear motor 95 of the right angle type, supported on a bracket 96 fastened to the upper section of the chute.

Below the swivel joint the chute has a section 44, changing from circular to rectangular cross section and from there to the end the chute gradually narrows in one direction (Figs 9, 10, Sheet 4). Just short of the end it is provided with a branch or bypass 45, the entrance to which is controlled by a pivoted gate 46, mounted on a transverse shaft 41, journaled in brackets 48 on the chute.

The gate is controlled by levers 49 (Fig. 5) connected with a chain 50 wrapped about a drum 5| driven by an enclosed gear motor 52 of the right angle type. In the closed position shown in Fig. 9, the gate closes the passage into the branch 45 and leaves the main chute complete to the end. It will be normally held in this position. When the motor 52 is operated the gate is swung to the right in Fig. 9 until it closes with the plate 53, when it completes the bottom of the branch and cuts off the main chute entirely. The

motor of the particular type will throw the gate back and forth between these positions in a well understood manner. Q

The crotch between the main and branch chutes is formed by a plate 54 secured by two brackets 55 welded to the plate and the branches of the chute.

The thrower includes a belt 56 running over a driven pulley 51 and an idle pulley 58. The lower run may be straight, as shown, and tight. The upper run is forced into a concavity, as indicated at 59 (Fig. 5) by two narrow wheels or disks 60. From this it will be observed that the material falling through the chute l9 strikes the thrower belt at just about the beginning of the concavity, whereby the velocity it has acquired in the fall through the chuteis largely retained. This is an important feature where the material must be thrown to great distances; for example, forty to sixty feet, in order to fill the hold. Striking the thrower belt in this glancing way at a considerable velocity, the belt easily accelerates the movement of the material and gives it the velocity at delivery necessary to carry it to the remote parts of the hold.

It will be noted that due to the concavity of the thrower belt centrifugal force will cause the material to cling to the belt and accelerate rapid- 1y.

The thrower is assembled on a rectangular frame made up of tubes SI and 62, welded to elbows 63 at the corners. The tube 6|, at the left in Fig. 9, is fastened to brackets 64, fastened to the branch chute 45. The tubes 62 are supported by hangers 65 made of pieces of tubing welded at their lower ends to T-fittings 66, in turn welded to the tubes 62 and welded at their upper ends to elbows 61 on a tube 68, secured to angle brackets 69 on the main chute.

The driven pulley 51 is keyed to a shaft 10 journaled in hangers H mounted on the tubes 62, the disks fill are keyed to a shaft 12 journaled in hangers 13, also mounted on tubes 62. The idle pulley 58 is keyed to a shaft 14 journaled in the free ends of arms 15, pivoted at 16, on the hangers IS. The arms 15 are urged to swing in a counterclockwise direction in Figs. 5 and 9, by rods 11, passing through fittings 18 on the ends of tubes 62, and equipped with coil springs 19, adjusted by nuts 80 on the rods 11.

The thrower is driven by a fan-cooled motor 8| of the chemical type, mounted on a platform 82, secured to the lower section of the chute l9 and braced by turnbuckles 83 (Fig. 5) extending downwardly to the branch 45.

The motor is connected to the shaft 10 by a V-belt' drive 84.

All of the motors driving the various parts of the apparatus are controlled from a control box, or cage, .85, above deck, and here indicated in Fig.

1 as temporarily placed on the deck of the ship- ID, with the operator at this cage in such a position he can well observe the way the ship is riding and operate the mechanism accordingly.

In operation the boom being in the upper position, shown in dotted lines (Fig. 1) the ship is brought into position shown in that figure and a hatch 86 opened. The operator then lowers the .boom roughly shown in the lower dotted line position, and the conveyors and thrower are set in motion. As the material is loaded towards the side of the hold it will build up to where the trajectory is indicated by the arrows 81 and will then roll down towards a position beneath the loader. As that part of the ship is properly filled, the operator will rotate the lower portion of the chute about the swivel joint, thus directing the stream of material in a way to properly stow the material in the hold and trim the ship. In this way there will be formed a sort of crater, or pit, beneath the thrower, and its formation can be indicated in various Ways. In this instance it is indicated by a signal arm 88 (Fig. 5) pivoted at B9 and equipped with a mercury switch 90, which, when tilted will operate a signal light, or other device, to inform the operator. In this instance also the signal arm is supported by hangers 9| on the tubes 62.

In order to fill the crater the operator throws the gate 46 by means of the motor 52, thus closing the main chute and opening the branch or bypass 45, when the material drops almost beneath the loading device. Byagain rotating the lower portion of the chute about the swivel joint and raising the boom, the crater can be entirely filled.

It will be understood that as the ship is loaded it sinks in the water and the boom must be lowered to maintain the trajectory at the right height to properly stow the material. Of course, the control cage could be in a fixed position on the pier, but it is of advantage to have it on the deck of the ship. It will be understood, of course, that the hatch about the chute is closed by a temporary canvas, or like enclosure, to prevent dust from floating out with the air displaced from the hold.

For loading soda ash in a ship forty-eight feet in the beam it has been found that a fall of approximately eighteen feet from the pin 31 to the delivery end of the chute will give the material suflicient initial velocity to enable the thrower belt to give it a final velocity that will properly stow it in the ship.

In the apparatus illustrated the boom can swing from a position 18 below the horizontal up to the vertical. In loading it willbe found necessary with some ships to swing it from 18 below the horizontal to 18 above the horizontal.

The chute is twenty-seven inches square just below the supporting pin 3|. At the end of the section 44 it is approximately twelve inches by sixteen inches and at the extreme lower end it is three inches by sixteen inches.

The choice of materials in the chute will vary according to the materials to be handled and the atmospheric conditions, but in this apparatus galvanized steel has been found satisfactory.

The motors 95 and 52 are HpP. with 19 R. P. M., the motor BI is 10 H. P. with 1800 R. P. M., and gives the thrower belt a speed of 2400 R. P. M.

These specific data, as the other specific features described, are, of course, illustrative and will be varied to suit conditions.

I claim as my invention:

1. Apparatus for loading bulk pulverulent material into the hold of a ship comprising a boom, a conveyor on the boom delivering to the outer end thereof, a chute substantially vertically depending at the outer end of the boom for receiving material therefrom and providing a free fall for said material through a distance sumcient to give the material a substantial downward velocity, a thrower having a belt conveyor, means forming a lengthwise'concavity in the belt, means mounting said belt conveyor adjacent the lower end of the chute to receive free falling material at a side of the concavity, and means for driving the belt conveyor at a speed sufficient to accelerate said material and discharge it outwardly and upwardly from the opposite side of the concavity.

2. Apparatus for loading bulk pulverulent material into the hold of a ship comprising means for dropping said material in an enclosed stream through a sufiicient distance to impart a relatively high gravitational velocity to the material at the end of its fall, in combination with a belt conveyor having an upper run driven in a concave path, and means mounting the conveyor to receive said material at the end of its fall, when it is dropping at substantially maximum speed, on the portion of the path of the belt having downward and horizontal motion components.

3. Apparatus for loading bulk pulverulent material into the hold of a ship comprising a belt conveyor having an upper run driven in a concave path, means for hanging said conveyor through the hatch of a ship, and means for dropping vertically an enclosed stream of material through the hatch and causing said stream, while freely falling at the end of its drop, and when travelling at substantially maximum velocity, to

strike the portion of the belt which is moving with both downward and horizontal components.

4. Apparatus for loading bulk pulverulent material into the hold of a ship comprising a belt conveyor having an upper run driven in a concave path, means for hanging said conveyor through the hatch of a ship, and a chute having a bottom delivery opening vertically under and within the projection of its upper inlet opening, said chute being mounted to drop material directly through said delivery opening on to the side of the conveyor which is moving with both downward and horizontal components.

5. Apparatus for loading bluk pulverulent material into the hold of a ship, comprising means for dropping said material in an enclosed stream through a sufiicient distance to impart a relatively high gravitational velocity to the material at the end of its fall, in combination with a smooth surfaced belt conveyor having an upper run driven in a concave path, and means mounting the conveyor to receive said material at the end of its fall, when it is dropping at substantially maximum speed, on the portion of the path of the belt having downward and horizontal components.

,6. Apparatus for loading bulk pulverulent material into the hold of a ship comprising a smooth surfaced belt conveyor having an upper run driven in a concave path, means for hanging said conveyor through the hatch of a ship, and means for dropping vertically an enclosed stream of material through the hatch and causing said stream, while freely falling at the end of its drop, and when travelling at substantially maximum velocity, to strike the portion of the belt which is moving with both downward and horizontal components.

ALFRED D. SIN'DEN. 

